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Krugman: Time To Take a Stand

Here’s what will definitely happen when Gen. David Petraeus testifies before Congress next week: he’ll assert that the surge has reduced violence in Iraq – as long as you don’t count Sunnis killed by Sunnis, Shiites killed by Shiites, Iraqis killed by car bombs and people shot in the front of the head.

Here’s what I’m afraid will happen: Democrats will look at Gen. Petraeus’s uniform and medals and fall into their usual cringe. They won’t ask hard questions out of fear that someone might accuse them of attacking the military. After the testimony, they’ll desperately try to get Republicans to agree to a resolution that politely asks President Bush to maybe, possibly, withdraw some troops, if he feels like it.

Supposedly, one of the excuses for why we invaded Iraq was to liberate the Iraqi people, but after four and a half years, it looks like the only thing they managed to liberate was our money from our wallets.

And yet they keep giving us excuse after excuse to remain there. Someone tell me again what it is we’re supposed to be gaining by being over there? Because so far, it’s been looking more and more like a lose-lose situation.

Iraqis are crying,
Critics are sighing,
Soldiers are dying,
And Bush is lying.

I go to commondreams.org everyday. Today that had this from Glenn Greenwald at Salon:

“…huge majorities continue to believe that the war was not worth fighting (62-36%) and that the U.S. “is not making significant progress toward restoring civil order in Iraq” (60-36%). Only a small minority (28%) believe the Surge has made the situation in Iraq better, while vast majorities believe it has made no difference (58%) or has made the situation worse (12%). And a sizable plurality continues to believe the U.S. is losing the war (48-34%).

More significantly still, overwhelming numbers of Americans understand what the D.C. Establishment refuses to accept: namely, that even if there are marginal and isolated security improvements, there is still no point in continuing to stay in Iraq. Large majorities want the number of U.S. troops in Iraq decreased (58-39%); believe overwhelmingly that a decrease should begin “right away,” rather than by the end of the year or next year (62-33%); and favor legislation now to compel troop withdrawal by the spring (55-41%).”